Stocks: Wednesday’s review

Asian stocks fell for a third day as Greece’s plan for a referendum on Europe’s bailout stoked concern the sovereign-debt crisis won’t be contained. Hong Kong stocks rallied on speculation that China may act to stimulate its economy. This week’s slide in Asian stocks has almost erased gains that came last week as Europe appeared to have struck a deal to contain the debt crisis. Papandreou, whose hold on power is weakening, will fly to Cannes, France, today on the eve of a Group of 20 summit that starts tomorrow.

European stocks rose, snapping the biggest three-day drop in almost two months, as U.S. companies hired more workers than forecast and Federal Reserve policy makers raised their assessment of the economy in a statement at the close of trading. Euro-area leaders, racing to prevent their week-old debt crisis strategy from unraveling, are holding emergency talks today to tell Greece there is no alternative to the budget cuts imposed in the bailout plan.

National benchmark indexes climbed in 11 of the 18 western European markets today. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 rose 1.2 percent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 1.4 percent. Germany’s DAX Index gained 2.3 percent.

Randgold climbed 7.4 percent to 7,235 pence, the highest price since it first started trading in 1997. The miner said it expects its gold production to increase as much as 22 percent next year as output in Mali and Ivory Coast rises. Output may jump to 850,000 ounces to 900,000 ounces in 2012 from a target of 740,000 ounces to 760,000 ounces this year, Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow said today in an interview in London.

Rio Tinto, the world’s second-biggest mining company, advanced 3.8 percent to 3,375 pence as copper rose more than 1.5 percent on the London Metal Exchange. Antofagasta Plc advanced 5.4 percent to 1,174 pence as the copper producer controlled by Chile’s Luksic family reported a 17 percent increase in quarterly output.

Next Plc, the U.K.’s second-largest clothing retailer, advanced 6.5 percent to 2,723 pence after reporting growth in third-quarter brand sales that exceeded analyst estimates.

Lundin Petroleum AB, the oil explorer with a stake in the giant Avaldsnes-Aldous Major North Sea find, rose 6.5 percent to 163 kronor after forecasting higher production in 2012. The company reported third-quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $262 million, beating the average analyst estimate of $223 million.

Volkswagen AG led a gauge of automakers to the biggest gain of all industry groups in the Stoxx 600, rallying 6 percent to 127.20 euros. China’s passenger-car market may grow 8 percent to 10 percent a year over the coming five years, Karl-Thomas Neumann, head of VW’s Chinese operations said today at a conference in Berlin.

Lloyds, Britain’s biggest mortgage, dropped 4.4 percent to 29.21 pence. Horta-Osorio is taking leave of absence from his duties as CEO following medical advice and will be replaced in the interim by Finance Director Tim Tookey.

Logica Plc sank 7.3 percent to 83 pence as the Anglo-Dutch computer services provider posted third-quarter sales that trailed analyst estimates and cut its annual earnings forecast.

Meda AB, Sweden’s largest publicly traded drugmaker, fell 7.6 percent to 59.30 kronor after saying its profit margin in northern Europe dropped in the third quarter.